The ‘American Gothic’ Trailer Proves The World’s Crime Addiction Is Only Just Beginning — VIDEO

While Hollywood works its way through a seemingly indefatigable trend of superhero movies, the television landscape has found itself in the grips of an equally unshakable fad: crime. The next show to get in on the crime craze is CBS’ American Gothic, hitting the airwaves this summer in what’s described as a “13-part murder mystery.” If you find yourself in withdrawal after the terrific FX series The People V. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story earlier this year, then the first official American Gothic trailer is here to prove that it will definitely satisfy your crime addiction post-ACS.

Created by Corinne Brinkerhoff (The Good Wife) and James Frey (yes, he of the Million Little Pieces Oprah scandal), Gothic stars Oscar nominee Virginia Madsen (Sideways) as the matriarch of a Boston family torn apart when it’s revealed that one of them may have been involved in a string of murders in the area. Juliet Rylance (The Knick), Justin Chatwin (Shameless), and Antony Starr (Banshee) play her children… but which of them is a serial killer? That’s the question that American Gothic promises to answer; but can you figure it out for yourself before the finale?

Milo Ventimiglia’s new go90 series takes on dating in the digital age

To say that dating in the digital age is complicated may be an understatement.

That’s exactly why Milo Ventimiglia, James Frey, and fashion and lifestyle digital network StyleHaul decided to partner up to produce a new dramedy all about the highs and lows of modern dating.

Relationship Status, which debuted at Tribeca Film Festival on Thursday, follows an interweaving cast of young people in New York and Los Angeles as they navigate love and friendships, all told through the lens of social storytelling optimized for mobile consumption.

Yes, that entails crazy one night stands, the “perfect” kiss, cheating partners and more dramatic moments — all which in a modern world “propelled by social media.”

Since technology is at the core of modern relationships, Ventimiglia said go90 was the right destination for this exact series.

“I’ve been in the digital space since 2006, so 10 years now,” Ventimiglia, who will also star in the upcoming Netflix Gilmore Girls reboot, told Mashable in a phone interview.

“I’m happy that there is a less of a line between traditional film and TV and new media. [And] having this story related to all of us dealing with dating in digital age — and how it connects and pulls us apart — is a natural fit for a platform like go90.”

CBS murder mystery will be set in Boston

Those cameras you saw in front of the Boston Public Library a few weeks ago were not affiliated with Mark Wahlberg’s Boston Marathon bombing movie, “Patriots Day.” They belonged to a television show “American Gothic,” which will premiere on CBS in June.

Showrunner Corinne Brinkerhoff, who earned her graduate degree from Boston University in 2004, confirmed that “Gothic” is set in Boston, and that the crew filmed scenes and exteriors at the BPL, Faneuil Hall, and City Hall. She said she’d hoped to film at Trinity Church, but her plans were cut short because of the last snowstorm.

Movie Version of ‘Eat, Brains, Love’ Zombie Novel in Works at Van Toffler’s Gunpowder & Sky

Startup studio pacts with Tony DiSanto’s DIGA, James Frey’s Full Fathom Five on project

Gunpowder & Sky, the youth-focused studio launched by ex-Viacom exec Van Toffler in January, has signed an exclusive deal for a film adaptation of “Eat, Brains, Love,” a comedic zombie road-trip novel by Jeff Hart.

The project reunites Toffler and DiSanto, whose productions at MTV included “Jersey Shore,” “Scream,” “Teen Wolf” and “My Super Psycho Sweet 16.” The companies said they are in talks with potential screenwriters for “Eat, Brains, Love.”

“Eat, Brains, Love” — the title is a play on Elizabeth Gilbert’s best-selling novel “Eat, Pray, Love” — is the story of a pair of high-school sweethearts who contract a mysterious zombie virus and devour the brains of half their senior class. They set off on a cross-country journey to discover a cure, while being pursued by a teen psychic sent by the government’s top-secret Necrotic Control Division to track them down.

WME negotiated the deal on behalf of Full Fathom Five. DiSanto and Full Fathom Five’s Todd Cohen brought the project to G&S.

Tribeca Film Festival Unveils Digital-Content Marketplace Event

New York festival also adds special screenings of projects from YouTube Red, Fullscreen, StyleHaul, Disney’s Maker Studios

Tribeca Film Festival is zeroing in on digital creative talent and studios with the launch next month of the inaugural Tribeca Digital Creators Market.

The daylong event, scheduled for April 21 in New York City, is designed to connect digital influencers and talent with industry buyers, producers and agents, as well as showcase premium digital entertainment content.

The Tribeca Digital Creators program also will feature screenings, starting April 20, of new projects from YouTube Red, Fine Brothers Entertainment, StyleHaul, Fullscreen, Indigenous Media, New Form Digital and Disney’s Maker Studios. Tribeca developed the concept for the market with CAA.

Tribeca is touting the confab as the first event aimed at bringing together digital creators and traditional media partners, compared with fan-focused events like VidCon.

CBS Announces Summer Premiere Dates for BRAINDEAD, ZOO & More!

CBS today announced its summer schedule with original series across five nights of the week, including the new event series BRAINDEAD and AMERICAN GOTHIC, the sophomore season of ZOO, based on James Patterson’s #1 bestselling novel, and the return of the summer reality hit BIG BROTHER.

The suspenseful new murder mystery AMERICAN GOTHIC premieres Wednesday, June 22 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT). The series, from Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television, is about a prominent Boston family reeling in the wake of the chilling discovery that someone in their midst is linked to an infamous string of murders. As shocking secrets from the past and present are revealed, their mounting SUSPICION and paranoia that one of them is a killer threatens to tear THE FAMILY apart.

Danielle Paige shares her thoughts on Wicked developments and new challenges in Yellow Brick War, and we have an exclusive teaser for Dorothy’s return.

The Dorothy Must Die series follows the Kansas-born Amy Gumm through an Oz subsumed under by Dorothy Gale’s reign of terror. The third installment, Yellow Brick War, takes the battle back to the cornfields, where Amy must not only battle the enemies of her old life, but find a way to save Kansas from Dorothy’s nefarious plans.

Soccer star Alex Morgan offers lessons in leadership for young girls

She’s put the ball into the back of the net six times since January for the U.S. Women’s National Team.

One of those goals, as Sports Illustrated noted, was the fastest in U.S. soccer history. She scored on Costa Rica earlier this month just 12 seconds after kickoff.

Morgan, who is set to start training next month for the Orlando Pride, is also half of Central Florida’s newest and most internationally known power couple. Her husband, Servando Carrasco, is a midfielder for Orlando City.

But Morgan isn’t just about stats. She is channeling all of that power — on and off the field — into feeding the minds of girls hungry for someone to look up to.

Soccer is one of the most popular youth sports in the country.

“But there wasn’t really anything out there for young girls to watch or to read or to follow other than the women’s national team,” said Morgan, 26.

So when an author she knows approached her a few years ago with the idea to create her own series, she said it was a “no brainer.”

The result was “The Kicks,” now a series of six books Morgan created that are centered on fictional 12-year-old Devin Burke, who had to move cross-country with her family only to find that her new school’s soccer team was lousy.

The book revolves around themes like leadership, friendship and perseverance.

Last year Amazon Prime picked up “The Kicks” as one of its original series.

CBS’ ‘American Gothic’ Adds ‘Once Upon a Time’ Alum (Exclusive)

Elliot Knight will play the husband of Megan Ketch’s character, Tessa.

American Gothic is adding a spellbinding new series regular.

Elliot Knight, best known for playing Merlin on Once Upon a Time, has joined CBS’ murder mystery drama, The Hollywood Reporterhas learned.

American Gothic follows a prominent Boston family attempting to redefine itself in the wake of a chilling discovery that ties their recently deceased patriarch to a string of murders spanning decades, amid mounting suspicion that one of them may have been his accomplice.

The project hails from writer Corinne Brinkerhoff (The Good Wife), who will executive produce alongside Amblin’s Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank (The Americans, Under the Dome, Extant), James Frey and Todd Cohen. Fellow Good Wife grad Matt Shakman is set to direct the pilot.

American Gothic is one of two new series coming to CBS this summer — the other being the comic-thrillerBrainDead from The Good Wife creators Robert and Michelle King.

Virginia Madsen to Co-Star in CBS’ ‘American Gothic’ (Exclusive)

‘Fargo’ and ‘The Good Wife’ alum Matt Shakman will direct the pilot for the summer 2016 drama.

CBS’ American Gothic is adding to its cast.

The straight-to-series drama has enlisted Virginia Madsen to co-star, The Hollywood Reporter has learned, with Matt Shakman set to direct the pilot.

Set to air in the summer, American Gothic centers on a prominent Boston family attempting to redefine itself in the wake of a chilling discovery that links their recently deceased patriarch to a string of murders spanning decades, amid mounting suspicion that one of them may have been his accomplice.

She joins a cast that also includes Justin Chatwin, Megan Ketch, Antony Starr, Juliet Rylance, Stephanie Leonidas and Gabriel Bateman.

Corinne Brinkerhoff (The Good Wife) will pen the script and executive produce alongside Amblin’s Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank (The Americans, Under the Dome, Extant), James Frey and Todd Cohen.

From Good Wife/Jane the Virgin scribe Corinne Brinkerhoff and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television, the drama — which bears no connection to the short-lived, Shaun Cassidy-produced American Gothic series that aired on CBS in the mid-’90s — centers on a prominent Boston family that is attempting to redefine itself in the wake of a chilling discovery that links their recently deceased patriarch to a string of murders spanning decades, all amid the mounting suspicion that one of them may have been his accomplice.

Milo Ventimiglia, James Frey to Debut New Series on Verizon’s Go90 (Exclusive)

by Natalie Jarvey

Milo Ventimiglia
Courtesy of Warner Bros. TV

‘Relationship Status’ follows the lives of 30 young people in New York and Los Angeles as they navigate love and friendships.

Verizon’s go90 will become the home of a new scripted series about love and friendships from digital network StyleHaul and executive producers James Frey and Milo Ventimiglia.

Relationship Status will premiere this spring exclusively on the streaming video app. The dramedy will use the lens of social media to follow the interweaving lives of 30 some young people living in New York and Los Angeles. Among those starring are Shawn Ashmore (X Men: Days of Future Past) and Ventimiglia (Heroes).

Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum (Mistresses) will direct from a script by Celine Geiger (The Lying Game). Full Fathom Five’s Frey and Todd Cohen and DiVide Pictures’ Ventimiglia and Russ Cundiff are producing alongside StyleHaul.

Ventimiglia explains that the series has a fluency in digital and delves into what it’s like to connect with people in the modern age of online dating, mobile phones and social networking. “There was a moment when I first read the script where I honestly felt like Celine had a window into my own life,” he says. “The stories she was telling and the interwoven moments were plucked out of my different relationships and my own digital life.”

Added Frey: “The effect the digital era has had on all of our relationships — how it conveniences them, complicates them, confuses them — is something I’ve wanted to explore through story for some time, taking full advantage of the very tools the story examines to tell the tale.”

Alex Morgan Gets Real About Her Goals: I Want to ‘Become the Best Player in the World’

BY TIERNEY MCAFEE

Alex Morgan in SELF magazine / JACOB SUTTON

At 26, soccer superstar Alex Morgan has already scored so many of her lifelong goals – she made the U.S. women’s national team, won an Olympic gold medal, and won the World Cup. But the striker, who’s easily one of the fastest players on her team, shows no signs of slowing down.

“I’ll play for as long as my body can last at this level,” Morgan says in her cover story for the January/February issue of SELFmagazine. “My goal is to become the best player in the world.”

So far, she seems to be on the right track. At 22, Morgan became the youngest member of Team USA. Since then she has landed 52 goals in 91 international games. At the 2012 Olympics, she scored the game-winning goal in the last 45 seconds of the semi-final. And last July, she helped lead her team to a stunning victory against Japan in the World Cup final.

Now she’s got her eye on a different prize – empowering young female readers and athletes through her new book series The Kicks.

“I want young girls to dream about being professional soccer players instead of just watching the boys go out and play,” she says. “It’s about seeing girls be confident in what they want to pursue.”

Justin Chatwin and Megan Ketch join American Gothic Cast

CBS confirmed today that Justin Chatwin and Megan Ketch have both signed onto the cast of AMERICAN GOTHIC, a new one-hour murder mystery series from Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television and CBS Television Studios. The new series is set to hit the network in summer 2016.

Currently, Chatwin is shooting the feature film “CHIPs.” Prior to that, he completed the independent films “The Scent of Rain & Lightning” and the comedy “Unleashed.” Chatwin’s television credits include roles in “Shameless” and “Orphan Black,” as well as guest appearances on numerous series, including “Weeds” and “Lost.”

Ketch is best known to television audiences for her recurring roles in the series “Under the Dome,” THE GOOD WIFE and BLUE BLOODS, on the Network, and “Jane the Virgin.” In 2014, she appeared in the feature film “The Big Wedding.”

AMERICAN GOTHIC is produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Amblin Television. Corinne Brinkerhoff (THE GOOD WIFE, “Jane the Virgin”), Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank (“The Americans,” “Under the Dome,” “Extant”), James Frey and Todd Cohen serve as executive producers. The series will be distributed domestically by CBS Television Distribution and worldwide by CBS Studios International.

121 cars dancing in UAE desert: ‘Black Knight Decoded’ for world record

Final chapter of Pepsi Challenge brings UAE into picture

In the newest chapter of the Pepsi Challenge, Pepsi has released Black Knight Decoded, an epic short film by Pepsi in collaboration with Levity Entertainment Group (LEG) and UrtheCast, the ultra High-Definition video system located aboard the International Space Station, incorporating the world’s largest synchronised car dance, shot in the UAE desert from space.

The short film, which fuses scenes shot from space from 11 countries around the world, includes footage of 121 cars dancing in the UAE’s desert before forming a peace sign, which measures over 80 meters in diameter. The activation, which broke the Guinness World Record for the largest synchronized car dance in the world, was overseen by the renowned UK-based graffiti artist, INSA.

Set to an original track, ‘Miracles’, from Usher, the action-packed adventure film has a star-studded cast and a host of creative talent including Golden Globe nominee David Oyelowo, SAG Award winner Freida Pinto, Emmy Award winning director Jabbar Raisani, bestselling author James Frey.

Black Knight Decoded tells a powerful story about a father (Oyelowo), his daughter (Layla Crawford) and co-conspirator (Pinto) on their quest to decode radio signals transmitted from the Black Knight satellite where they rely on support from communities around the world to come together to communicate universal messages of hope, unity and peace.

Oyelowo, Pinto, Raisani, Frey And Usher Come Together For New Short Film

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/. Golden Globe nominee David Oyelowo, SAG Award winner Freida Pinto, Emmy Award winning director Jabbar Raisani, bestselling author James Frey, Grammy Award winning entertainer Usher and a host of creative talent have come together to create Black Knight Decoded, an action-packed, first-of-its-kind short film produced by Levity Entertainment Group (LEG) and Pepsi. The film features footage shot from space utilizing UrtheCast‘s ultra High-Definition video system located aboard the International Space Station. Black Knight Decoded will be available November 17, 2015 on YouTube.com/Pepsi.

Black Knight Decoded imagines a rich fictional narrative around what some people believe is a very real entity, the Black Knight satellite. The film, which features an original track, “Miracles,” from Usher, tells a powerful story of a father (Oyelowo), his daughter (Layla Crawford) and co-conspirator (Pinto) on their quest to decode radio signals transmitted from the Black Knight satellite. As they struggle to respond before the government shuts down their mission, the group rely on support from communities around the world to come together to communicate universal messages of hope, unity and peace. Those communities across Australia, China, the Czech Republic, India, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Russia, United Arab Emirates, the United States and Vietnam were filmed from cameras on the ground as well as UrtheCast’s cameras aboard the International Space Station.

“Black Knight Decoded is an ambitious project that marries an all-star cast, innovative use of the UrtheCast technology and unprecedented consumer participation,” said Kristin Patrick, senior vice president of Global Brand Development, PepsiCo Global Beverage Group. “The result is an inspiring, one-of-a-kind film that was truly co-created with top notch creative film talent and consumers from around the world.”

View Black Knight Decoded and learn more at YouTube.com/Pepsi and follow along on social media using #BlackKnightDecoded.

Big Shaq

by Jonathan Blitzer

ILLUSTRATION BY TOM BACHTELL

There are fifty-two million items in the New York Public Library, if you count the artifacts, like pieces of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s skull and the walking stick that Virginia Woolf carried to the river’s edge. The other day, Thomas Lannon, a curator, was riffling through the collection, trying to find some objects that might interest Shaquille O’Neal, who was coming to the library that night as part of the N.Y.P.L.’s conversation series to talk about his new children’s book, “Little Shaq.”

Lannon was stumped. He’d considered original Superman comics, but they’re stored off-site. “Shaquille O’Neal isn’t really a scholar,” Lannon said, as he wheeled two boxes into a makeshift greenroom. “But he does have a doctorate”—in education, and also a master’s in business. One of his many nicknames is the Big Aristotle.
When Paul Holdengräber, the library’s resident interviewer, started the series, the staff created a tradition: before each event, the curators pull objects geared to the speaker’s interests. George Clinton was shown correspondence between Timothy Leary and Allen Ginsberg about psychedelics and jazz. Werner Herzog looked at a register of executions at San Quentin, and Patti Smith got to hold the Woolf walking stick.

Aardman Animations’ half-hour “Shaun the Sheep: The Farmer’s Llamas” will debut for Prime members in the U.S. on Nov. 13. The three other series will bow on Prime next year in the U.S., U.K., Germany and Austria.

In “The Kicks,” Devin Burke (played by newcomer Sixx Orange) was the star player on her soccer team back home until her family moved to California midway through the school year — and she has to rally her new team to victory. Based on the books by Alex Morgan, Olympic soccer gold medalist and current U.S. Women’s National Team soccer player. “The Kicks” is executive produced by Full Fathom Five’s novelist James Frey and Todd Cohen, as well as Andrew Orenstein (“Malcolm in the Middle”).

“We’re excited to offer our Prime members a beautifully reimagined world in our first original kids 6-to-11 animated series (‘Lost in Oz’) and bring to the screen Alex Morgan’s successful book series with an inspirational role model at the core,” said Tara Sorensen, head of kids programming at Amazon Studios. “Aardman and Sinking Ship are award-winning producers and we’re excited to debut ‘Dino Dana’ and ‘Shaun the Sheep’ on Prime Video.”

Steven Spielberg, James Frey Murder Mystery ‘American Gothic’ Gets Series Order From CBS

CBS has given a straight-to-series order for 13 episodes of “American Gothic,” a new one-hour murder mystery from Steven Spielberg‘s Amblin Television and author James Frey‘s Full Fathom Five, TheWrap has learned.

The series, which will be broadcast during summer 2016, centers on a prominent Boston family that is attempting to redefine itself in the wake of a discovery that links their recently deceased patriarch to a string of murders spanning decades, and amid the mounting suspicion that one of them may have been his accomplice.

“American Gothic” is produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Amblin Television. Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank of Amblin Television, James Frey of Full Fathom Five and “The Good Wife’s” Corinne Brinkerhoff, who is writing the script, will serve as executive producers.

Author James Frey Sells Three TV Projects (Exclusive)

As CEO of Full Fathom Five, Frey reupped his UCP deal and sold projects to E!, Syfy and NBC.

by Lacey RoseAP Images

James Frey is nothing if not prolific.

His Full Fathom Five, the 5-year-old outfit behind best-sellers I Am Number Four and Endgame: The Calling as well as Frey’s just-published Endgame sequel, Sky Key, has sold three TV projects through its newly extended Universal Cable Productions deal.

There’s KissnTell, originally an e-book from the transmedia company’s digital imprint, which began releasing a book a week last fall. The Marc Halsey-penned comedy, now set up at E!, follows two young women who start an anonymous gossip blog. Before long, they find themselves living double lives — average single girls by day, life-of-the-party scenesters at night

At Syfy, FFF sold Haunted from Noga Landau, about the four adult children of self-proclaimed paranormal experts who are reunited following their parents’ sudden and mysterious deaths. Together under one roof for the first time in years, they must overcome their issues with each other in order to solve the mystery of what happened to their parents and ultimately survive the literal ghosts from their past. Dan Halsted and Nate Miller of Manage-ment are on board as producers.

Finally, NBC bought FFF’s Michael Golamco-written supernatural kung fu drama Middle Kingdom, which is set in San Francisco, the “Middle Kingdom” between Asia and America, East and West, heaven and hell.

See the electrifying trailer for The Fate of Ten, the penultimate I Am Number Four book — exclusive

On Sept. 1, Pittacus Lore’sI Am Number Four series gets nearer to its close, as The Fate of Ten—the series’ second-to-last book—hits shelves everywhere. The Fate of Ten sees the Garde stretched across North America: John is fighting the Mogadorians in New York City, where his human friend Sam has suddenly developed a Legacy; Six, Marina, and Adam are in Mexico where they’ve reached the Sanctuary, but can’t escape. Can they fight this war without destroying each other, and humanity itself?

Check out the electrifying, exclusive trailer above, and read the prologue [here].

The digital story that surrounds you right now: Ingress

In our current Innovation Issue, we listed augmented reality gaming, and specifically Ingress, as an area with the potential to change the way brands approach their audiences. Here, mobile technology expert Lars Cosh-Ishii explains why the platform has such big implications.

The Ingress platform by Niantic Labs, operating as a startup within Google, has managed to place a graphic skin over the physical world in multiple compelling ways: it’s dynamic, immersive and fun.

Founded in 2010 and led by John Hanke, who spent six-years building and running Google Earth and StreetView, the product opened for general release in December 2013. His team has secured a passionate global following and checks key boxes from user-generated content via mobile to location-based profile data capture and community engagement.

With over 8 million downloads reported as of late last year, the platform is clearly gaining traction. One might say this is where Second Life meets Real Life, and the canvas of potential is both infinite and relevant.

Perhaps as a result of living in Japan for many years, where the past and future are always present, it’s fairly obvious to me that Ingress will ultimately enable a turnkey solution—platform as a service—for clients to create their own branded portals. Actually, the next steps along that path seem well underway with the new Endgame project, based on a book by James Frey and Nils Johnson-Shelton, the Ancient Societies universe. Expect amazing mixed-reality experiences ahead.

‘Paper Towns’ Producers on Keeping Up With ‘Twilight’ Stars and Making John Green Cry

by Rebecca Ford

Wyck Godfrey (left) and Marty Bowen / Hussein Katz

Temple Hill’s Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey went from Hollywood roommates to kings of YA movies after producing the ‘Twilight’ series. Now, as they follow ‘The Fault in Our Stars,’ they explain how they discover unknown actors and how much power they give authors.

Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey were 27-year-old acquaintances climbing the Hollywood ladder when they moved into a house together on Temple Hill Drive in Beachwood Canyon. Perhaps because they met during their formative years, the roommates turned best friends have kept their production company young at heart, with a focus on low- to midbudget films aimed at teens, young adults and women (the occasional Nerf war in the hall helps).

Bowen, a former UTA partner, and Godfrey, a veteran producer, founded Temple Hill in 2006 and hit paydirt with the Twilight franchise, producing five films in three years that went on to earn a collective $3.34 billion worldwide. They found YA gold again in 2014 by adapting John Green‘s book The Fault in Our Stars into a $12 million Fox film that earned $307.2 million. Bowen and Godfrey, both 47, moved quickly to adapt Green’s Paper Towns (out July 24) and next will take on the author’s debut novel, Looking for Alaska, at Paramount. In the process, they have made stars of such unproven talents as Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, Shailene Woodley and, they now hope, Cara Delevingne and Nat Wolff of Towns.

With books-to-film as its backbone, the 10-employee Temple Hill has juggled multiple projects at once, producing Nicholas Sparks adaptations (Dear John and The Longest Ride) and the Maze Runner franchise (the second installment, The Scorch Trials, is set to open Sept. 18) while also working in TV on the upcoming Fox series Rosewood. The duo also signed to produce a Power Rangers reboot and James Frey‘s Endgame. And they’re expanding into publishing, teaming with HarperCollins to develop emerging authors. Bowen, a married father of 3-year-old twins and a newborn, and Godfrey, a married dad of three teen boys, sat down with THR to discuss Green’s allure, how they find stars and female voices in Hollywood.

Alex Morgan Hopes Her TV Show Changes Attitudes About Women Athletes

U.S. women’s national team and Portland Thorns star forward Alex Morgan and her teammates have been appearing on red carpets, late-night talk shows, and celebrations around the country in what appears to be a sea change of sorts for the attention given to women athletes.

But her latest project, which might end up making even more of a difference in how women athletes are publicly perceived than her team’s recent World Cup win, is one you may not have heard of unless you have middle-school aged kids: Morgan is producing a children’s television show for Amazon.

Morgan’s show, The Kicks, is based on a bestselling book series she wrote for middle-schoolers about four soccer-playing girls. The show is just a pilot for now, adapted from Morgan’s books by David Babcock, a writer and producer who worked on big network hits like Brothers & Sisters and Gilmore Girls. The episode is filmed mockumentary style and portrays Devin, the main character, as a normal—awkward at times—tween girl struggling to fit in after moving across the country. Her move is also complicated by the fact that her new school’s soccer team is terrible.

The show doesn’t shy away from showing Devin makeup-less and sweaty during practices and games. This Saturday, July 25, The Kicks wraps up a month-long Amazon pilot season, which features six different shows for kids. Amazon will decide which shows to greenlight for full series based on user ratings and reviews.